About This Time
by Darth Tromeros
Summary: Set during episode 12, "Where'd You Go-Go?" Tony wonders about Jeannie's date with Roger while being occupied himself by Diane. Takes place during and after the episode.


"Tony, what are we doing now?"

Her voice came out in an impatient huff. Tony tore his attention away from the blonde that walked with his best friend to Diane. "Hmm?"

"Tony, are you okay? Would you rather go with _that _girl?" Her eyebrows were scrunched angrily.

"That girl has a name." His voice softened. "It's Jeannie."

"I knew it!" Diane threw her hands in the air. "You've changed. You don't want to be with me."

Tony took a step closer to Diane. "No, Diane, I want too—"

"You're worse than married!" she continued, raging. "You're desperate, aren't you? She just left you and you're just doing this to replace her."

He gave a tired sigh. "Diane, you have it all wrong."

"_I _have it all wrong?" It sounded as if she was about to tip over the edge. Flames flickered in her eyes.

Tony put his arms around her waist. Softly, he said, "If I didn't want you here, would I do this?" He placed his lips on hers in a sweet kiss. As they broke away, she came back with passion, her hands cupping his face. Slowly, his arms reached up her back to her neck, holding her in a place where she couldn't leave.

She pulled away, the previous fire in her eyes replaced with a sparkle. "How 'bout we skip the dancing and go back the way we did it in Texas?"

He smiled. "Sure, why not?"

Her arm wrapped around his, she leaned in close to him as they walked. Tony listened, a bit disinterested in whatever she was chattering about. His mind started wandering as she continued ninety miles an hour, and suddenly he remembered Jeannie.

Nervousness crept in his body. Jeannie. His Jeannie was out with Roger. Roger wasn't a bad guy; after all, he _was _his best friend, but Roger was quite the romantic.

"Oh, thank you Tony!"

"Huh?" He looked down to see he had just escorted her inside his car, his hand lightly on hers. "Oh, yeah, no problem." Giving a fake smile, he entered the driver's seat and her constant talking began again.

Roger didn't know that Jeannie was, well, his. Roger thought Jeannie was some random girl he could pick up a date with. But he couldn't. Jeannie was his, and that was it.

After a moment, he realized that he was feeling a tinge of jealousy. He shook the thought out of his head. Jeannie was doing it to make him jealous. She told him he was jealous, and he had denied it.

He pushed it out of his head, only to wonder what the two were doing now. Why, Roger was probably whispering things to her, and she was embracing him, and their hands were all over and breathing heavier and kisses being planted up and down their necks and arms and jaws….

"Tony, are you okay? You seem a bit stressed."

Snapping back to reality, Tony looked over at Diane. He loosened his grip on the steering wheel. "Oh, yeah, just a bit of indigestion, that's all."

"Oh," she said, concerned. "Is my Tony bunny okay?"

"I'm fine now," he reassured her.

Diane grew silent for a moment, looking up at the sky. "It's a lovely night," she said, wind waving her hair. Her gaze switched back to him. "Tony, you haven't changed a bit. Just as handsome as before."

"Neither have you." He sent her a smile.

"Besides the fact you seem so uptight." She cocked her head to the side. "Would you explain to me why you're so concerned over that woman?"

"Jeannie," he corrected. Quickly scolding himself for looking even more obsessed with her, he continued, "You see, she can be very naïve and I'm not sure what Roger's going to do with her."

"Oh." She stayed quiet for a second. "So why did you make me go dance with Roger?"

"I needed to make sure she knew that Roger might do something she might not like and that it's perfectly okay to say no," he lied. Well, it wasn't really a lie; more like an exaggeration with a fib.

Okay, maybe more of a lie than the truth. But did it matter?

Diane seemed a bit reluctant to accept that answer, but dropped the subject.

Tony's thought strayed back to Jeannie once more. Oh, what was she doing right now? Whatever Roger was doing, he couldn't do it. Only he himself could ever touch Jeannie like that. Jeannie was his genie, not Roger's. Only he could kiss her neck, grip her waist as she moaned his name softly, see the love in her eyes….

"Let's get this started." Diane sent a mischievous smile towards him.

_Stop thinking about it,_ Tony told himself as he helped Diane out of the car and into his house. As soon as the door closed, Diane pounced at him, throwing her arms around his neck and sliding them down to his lower back as she eagerly kissed him. Slightly taken aback, he quickly caught on, kissing her back with the same heat that they had back in Texas.

She grabbed his jacket and pushed it back. Letting her go, he shook it off before grabbing her waist and lifting her off the ground. His lips moved to her neck, progressing speedily down to her collarbone. He felt her shudder against him before he put her on the couch, moving down to her feet to remove her heels, kissing her shins while doing so. Looking up at her, he sauntered towards her. She jumped up, her arms hugging his neck. Maneuvering her so she was on his lap, he sent back and kissed her fiercely.

_About this time Jeannie and Roger could be pecking each other on hands, lips, foreheads…._

"Oh, Tony bunny," Diane breathed as she leaned back while he kissed her neck. "You haven't lost it."

_About this time Roger could be nibbling Jeannie's ear as she shivered with excitement…._

Diane was on her knees on top of his lap, her hands pulling his left sleeve down and her warm lips brushing over it. She let go of the sleeve, looking up slowly only to kiss his ears before moving to his jaw. "Oh, Tony," she moaned before their lips met again fervently. Her legs slid apart, moving her down until their hips were touching, he bending over to still be with her.

_About this time Jeannie could be completely surrendered to Roger, forgetting anything about her master…._

Her fingers moved across her shirt buttons, playing with them. As one came unhooked, he broke away suddenly. "I can't do this," he said. He stood up, placing her gently on the couch.

"What?" she asked, shocked.

Fumbling with the top button, he repeated, "I can't do this."

She stood up, furious. Stomping her foot, she said, "Don't tell me it's that—that—Jeannie girl!"

He looked her straight in the eye. "It is, Diane." He moved closer to her. "Diane, what we had was great, but when I left, I left that behind. Not that I don't like you, but… it died. You know it died, I know it died. What's the point pretending like we could still do that? I've found other girls. I'm sure you've found other guys. Why don't we just stay friends instead of doing this?"

Diane's anger faded as she sighed sadly. "You're right, Tony. You've moved on. I have too." Her eyes met his. "I guess I'll be getting home."

"Do you need a ride?" he asked.

"That would be nice."

As they headed for the door, she stopped and kissed his cheek lightly. "It's been nice, Tony."

He smiled sadly. "It has been."

* * *

It was 3:14 when he gave up trying to sleep. Moving through the inky darkness, he slipped out into his living room, straight to Jeannie's bottle. "Jeannie?" he whispered, shaking her bottle slightly. It was still for a moment until pink smoke came from the bottle.

Yawning, Jeannie looked up at Tony. "What bothers you at this time, master?"

"Oh, Jeannie," he breathed. "I just wanted to see you."

Jeannie studied him for a moment. "Master, you seem different. You must be tired. Go to bed."

"No, Jeannie, I'm not tired. I… can I please just…"

"Yes?" She raised her eyebrows.

He tried saying something before stopping, waving a hand. "Forget it, I'll just do it." He pulled her in for a deep kiss, embracing her for what seemed like eternity.

Gasping for breath, Jeannie looked at Tony, her eyes wide. "Master!"

"Sorry, Jeannie, I just really missed you."

She smiled. "I did too, master."

"What did… Roger do to you?"

She gave a laugh. "You are so jealous you are practically green, master."

Tony's expression didn't change. "Answer me, please."

"Nothing compared to what I'm going to do now!" She kissed him again, tugging him close as her hands lingered near the top of his hamstrings. He found her tongue with his as they kissed. His arms gripped the curve of her hips. After some time, her leg reached up and brushed past his hand to wrap around his leg.

He pulled away slowly, staring into her eyes. Their chests heaved as they sent a glance to each other; one that neither of them could fully understand but at the same time felt as if they knew just fine. Leaning in so his lips were by her ear, he whispered, "I like the way you think," before kissing the top of her ear.

"Really, master? You do?"

He leaned back to see her hopeful eyes. "Mm-hmm."

She grinned contently. "Good night, master." Suddenly, he was holding on to her pink smoke, which slipped through his hands and entered her bottle.

Tony stared into the empty space, adrenaline rushing through him. He felt as if his clothes were restricting him for some reason (or at least his pants seemed a little tight), but he felt as free as a bird.

Gradually, he slipped back into reality. A tad bit embarrassed, he tried to forget about the feeling he had just felt, and planned on making sure Jeannie would never talk about this again.

Picking up her bottle, he said into it, "Good night, Jeannie," then turned back to his bedroom.

Jeannie smiled to herself. Maybe she was going to be Mrs. Nelson soon after all.


End file.
